Recipes By David Tanis
750 recipes found
Duck With Cherries and Red Wine Vinegar
Classic French duck dishes, like Caneton aux Cérises (roast duckling with cherries) are for the most part considered too formal or just old-fashioned, relics from a bygone era. An updated version, however, can have great appeal. This interpretation uses a pan-roasted large Muscovy duck breast instead of a whole bird, as easy to cook as a steak. A pungent spice rub imbues it with big flavor. The sauce maintains some classic elements, like red wine vinegar and caramelized sugar, for a sweet-sour aspect, but fresh ginger and cayenne are added for more dimension and spark. Note: Muscovy breasts are quite lean and are best cooked rare to medium-rare (rosy); otherwise the meat will be dry.
Seaweed Salad
Seaweed comes in many forms, and is used extensively in Japanese cuisine. Most of us are familiar with the pressed sheets of nori that are wrapped around sushi, and kombu, the dark green algae that is simmered to make classic dashi broth. Japanese groceries have a dizzying array of salt-packed specialty varieties, but many supermarkets and health-food stores sell packages of dried seaweed, which may be the most user-friendly. Two types that are commonly available are reddish-purple dulse and bright green wakame. Both simply need bathing in cold water for a few minutes to soften and ready them for use. Once soaked and drained, the seaweed is tossed with a simple traditional dressing of sesame oil with ginger and soy. My version makes a fine vegetarian meal, with thin slices of carrot, radish, cucumber and daikon, along with avocado, green onion, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds.
Chicken Paillard With Black Olive Tapenade
Paillard is the French word for a thin slice of meat that cooks quickly. (Sometimes, a thicker piece of meat is pounded with a mallet to make it thinner.) This recipe is an easy way to make a chicken paillard without much pounding. Essentially, you butterfly a boneless, skinless chicken breast, slicing horizontally to make a flat, heart-shaped breast, then pound it lightly. Unfortunately, a chicken breast is often dry and tasteless, but it doesn’t have to be. Seasoned and cooked correctly, it should be tasty and moist. A dab of tapenade, a traditional Provençal black olive paste, makes a perfect accompaniment.
Roasted or Grilled Whole Fish With Tomato Vinaigrette
There are a number of good reasons to roast or grill a whole fish. Fish tastes better cooked on the bone. It’s just as easy as roasting meat or fowl, and is done in half the time. And a whole fish is apt to be fresher than many of the other choices at the fishmonger. A two-pound fish will serve two.
Steamed Mussels With Garlic and Parsley
This is absolutely the simplest way to cook mussels, and perhaps the most satisfying. A big pot of them makes an easy, festive dinner any night of the week.
Simple Grilled Sardines
Grilled fresh sardines are often offered on restaurant menus, but it’s very easy to make them at home, whether over hot coals or under the broiler. At the fishmonger, look for firm, shiny, glistening specimens. Sardines are a sustainable fish choice and are high in healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Most importantly, they are extremely delicious. For a Mediterranean touch, grill the fish on fig leaves: After cooking the sardines on one side, lay four fig leaves on the grill and place two fish, cooked side up, on top of each leaf to finish cooking. The fig leaves will add a subtle perfume to the sardines (they look beautiful, too), but they are not edible.
Almond Cake With Saffron and Honey
This is a lovely moist cake that keeps well and may be made several days in advance of serving. Stored well wrapped and at room temperature, its flavor only improves. For best results, grind blanched almonds to make your own almond meal. If you wish, accompany with a little whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Cornmeal Pine Nut Cookies
Light and buttery, these tender cookies have a subtle corn flavor and a texture similar to ladyfingers or madeleines. They keep well and are just as delicious with a pot of tea.
Grilled Eggplant, Peppers and Onions
The happy mix of eggplant, peppers and onions is found throughout the Mediterranean. Cooking the vegetables over hot coals adds a welcome smokiness, but even a stovetop grill gives a hint of smoky flavor, so don’t fret if you can’t grill outside. This salad is meant to be served at room temperature. Feel free to make it up to 2 hours ahead.
Seared Tuna, White Bean and Fennel Salad
Rich tuna and creamy white beans are the foundations of a favorite warm-weather Mediterranean salad, often accented with tomatoes and onion. Here, well-seasoned tuna fillet is instead seared rare in a cast-iron skillet, though it could also be grilled over hot coals. But feel free to use best-quality canned tuna, and skip the cooking altogether. The crisp, thinly sliced fennel adds freshness and mirrors the fennel seed in the seasoning.
Herbed Goat Cheese and Roasted Pepper Toasts
A more-than-one-bite hors d’oeuvre, these savory toasts make a satisfying snack to serve with drinks or to take on a picnic. They taste best at room temperature or just barely warm. Roasting the peppers can done a day ahead, as can marinating the goat cheese, making this treat very easy to put together.
Slow-Roasted Duck With Mashed White Beans, Sizzled Herbs and Olives
Slow-roasting duck legs in the oven, uncovered, yields tender meat, similar to duck confit, and lovely crispy skin. Look for large moulard legs, available at some butcher shops and online. Here, they are served with savory mashed white beans. The beans are best cooked from scratch, but, if desired, they can be made a day or two in advance. A topping of sizzled rosemary, sage and olives brings it all together. It’s a delicious dish, though somewhat rich, so a simple salad of arugula or some steamed broccoli rabe are nice as side dishes.
Seeded Molasses Whole-Wheat Dinner Rolls
Dinner rolls don’t have to be white and fluffy. These flavorful brown-bread rolls are chock full of a variety of tasty seeds and are sweetened with a touch of molasses. The dough resembles a whole-wheat challah, with a crisp crust and a light texture.
Cucumbers With Feta, Mint and Sumac
Garden-grown summer cucumbers are ideal for this easy salad, but even hothouse cucumbers are vastly improved with this zesty treatment. The sumac powder can be found at Middle Eastern groceries or online spice emporiums. Sumac adds a pleasant sour flavor that lemon juice alone does not provide. To keep the cucumbers crisp, don’t dress them more than 30 minutes before serving.
Wine-Braised Calamari With Vegetables
With the right treatment, squid (a.k.a. calamari) can make a satisfying, almost meaty stew. Simmered in white wine and chicken broth, the squid becomes tender in about 30 minutes. And paired with carrots, turnips and peas, it produces a rich and flavorful winter braise.
Baked Figs and Goat Cheese
Miso Chicken in Ginger, Leek and Scallion Broth
This chicken dish gets most of its flavor from miso, and relies on boneless, skinless thighs, which are nearly impossible to overcook. First simmered in water (or chicken broth for depth), the thighs are then slathered with a seasoned miso mixture and roasted until the miso forms a beautiful glaze. Use light miso (yellow or white) for a mild, nutty flavor, or dark miso (red or brown) for a deeper rustic quality.
Shrimp and Scallop Dumplings
A bowl of Chinese dumplings is always welcome, whether served in broth or, like here, simply dressed with rice vinegar and spicy sesame oil. It’s no trouble at all to chop and season the filling, and store-bought wrappers are easy to stuff and seal. Four minutes in boiling water is all it takes to get these bright-tasting shellfish dumplings on the table.
Winter Citrus and Red Chicories Salad
A crisp colorful salad in the dead of winter can make a meal feel luxurious. Radicchio and its crimson cousins in the chicory family, Chioggia, Treviso and Tardivo, make an eye-popping display with red citrus like blood orange and ruby grapefruit. The combination of slightly bitter leaves and sweet juices is utterly refreshing. Here's our video showing how to peel the citrus.
Braised Lamb With Egg and Lemon
For a springtime stew, this classic Mediterranean lamb braise is perfect. Tart with lots of lemon juice and enriched with egg yolks, it’s especially good with succulent young lamb. For optimal flavor, it's best to make the stew the night before. Most gourmet food shops and Italian delis sell fregola, a large couscous-like pasta from Sardinia.
Wine-Braised Duck With Lentils and Winter Vegetables
These duck legs, prepared in the manner of a classic French coq au vin, are deeply flavored, hearty and rich — a perfect cool weather meal rounded out with earthy lentils and root vegetables. For ease of service, all the components can be prepared well in advance, reheated and combined at the last minute.
Sea Scallop Salad with Meyer Lemon and Pomegranate
Mushroom Udon Noodle Bowl
Topping the list of the most satisfying meals, a big steaming bowl of noodles in broth nurtures body and soul. Though many noodle soups rely on long-simmered meat stock, this vegetarian broth is quickly prepared and very flavorful. The recipe calls for thick chewy udon noodles, but use another type of noodle, if you wish.
